Various Suspicions Within the Ze Realm Blessed Land

At first glance, these four major events don't seem to have much to do with Xiao Chen.

After all, he was neither Blessed Land Cultivator nor Rebellious Immortal Alliance Member.

But in reality, the impact of everything will inevitably affect him, and even the entire New Cultivation World.

For example, the attack that Song Shan Blessed Land launched against the Rebellious Immortal Alliance.

This objectively benefited Xiao Chen's deal with the Rebellious Immortal Alliance.

For example, the ongoing unrest in the Northern Territory Dangerous Places may indicate that a new wave of turmoil is about to erupt there.

The Cai Family's collection of books mentions that Gui Yun Market is about 1.5 million li away from the Northern Territory.

This distance is exceptionally far for most cultivators, and they will almost never reach it in their entire lives.

However, for Xiao Chen and the other Nascent Soul True Lord, it wasn't a particularly far place.

If needed, a round trip can be completed in less than half a month.

Any changes could have a real impact on them within a few months.

However, at the moment, Xiao Chen is still not quite clear about the situation there.

The only possible connection is that the Cai Family once sent clansmen to explore dangerous areas to settle debts, but they have been missing ever since.

"Will this be a bad thing or a good thing?"

Xiao Chen didn't know much about dangerous places either, so he found it difficult to make a judgment for the time being. "Seeing is believing, how about I take some time to go and take a look?"

After all, according to Master Cai, dangerous places are more likely to give birth to all kinds of rare and precious creatures.

Who knows, he might just find some rare and precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures by taking a trip there.

"But I'm afraid I won't have time to go exploring lately."

Xiao Chen's gaze fell upon the upcoming Immortal Selection Festival.

Since he doesn't plan to go to the Holy City to join the fun for the time being, the Immortal Selection Festival itself has basically no direct impact on him.

However, the rumored Great Purge that would routinely begin after the festival would inevitably involve rogue cultivators like him, whose origins and backgrounds were questionable.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen wasn't without a way to deal with it.

The simplest solution is one word: hide.

As long as he stays on the Compassion Sea side during the Immortal Selection Festival and the Great Purge, he can return to Gui Yun Market to continue trading with the Rebellious Immortal Alliance after the storm has passed.

That way, we can avoid this storm and mitigate its potential impact.

However, this approach is clearly too passive. Perhaps when Xiao Chen returns after a year or two, all his former acquaintances will be gone.

Therefore, although this method is simple, it is only suitable as a fallback option.

Unless absolutely necessary, it's best not to do this.

"The key is that the Rebellious Immortal Alliance is also restless, insisting on joining in the fun at this critical juncture."

Xiao Chen reread the classified intelligence at the end. "A large-scale attack, involving at least three True Lord."

"Judging from the situation, the target of the attack is most likely a certain market town."

"With so many markets in the New Cultivation World, it's unlikely that this attack just happened to occur in Gui Yun Market."

Theoretically speaking, the probability is actually not high.

But anything is possible before it actually happens.

In addition, this intelligence report also included another piece of information.

Those are the Dharma Name "Di Fu" and "Qing Yan".

As the saying goes, there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names.

It's not hard to deduce from their words that they are both cultivators with Earth Spiritual Root, thus possessing the ability to interfere with earth veins and affect formations.

"It seems like the New Cultivation World is peaceful on the surface, but it's actually a bit chaotic."

Xiao Chen frowned slightly. "But this should be a good thing for me?"

He doesn't particularly like turbulent environments.

However, from another perspective, a chaotic situation would be more advantageous for him, an outsider, to fish in troubled waters.

If the New Cultivation World has truly been completely brought under the rule of the Holy City, then there is a strict order everywhere.

Xiao Chen, on the other hand, would have to worry about how to hide himself and how to acquire a large number of Spirit Stone and high-level spiritual items.

That's probably fate; there's always a good side and a bad side, and it's never quite perfect.

As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

However, the thought of fish brought Xiao Chen back to his senses, and he stood up to look at the beach not far away.

Su Li was intently processing the Third-tier Spirit Fish.

She is currently slicing the freshest fish belly into evenly sized thin slices.

He even picked up the last small scrap of food with his index and middle fingers and popped it into his mouth.

You can tell at a glance that someone cooks often.

Xiao Chen's lips curled up slightly, and he decided to go over and enjoy the food with Su Li first.

Let's think about those troublesome things after we've eaten our fill.

It must be said that the Spirit Fish cultivated in the Ze Realm Blessed Land are truly exceptional.

This Third-tier Spirit Fish, even though it was just sliced, tasted just as good as Fourth-tier Spirit Fish.

After simple processing, whether boiled or grilled, it becomes even more delicious.

Even Su Li, who usually eats very little, ate an extra bowl.

Xiao Chen not only boiled dozens of kilograms in the pot, but also steamed dozens more kilograms on top, and finally roasted over a hundred kilograms in his hands with Spirit Fire.

In situations like this, having a large appetite can become an advantage.

You can enjoy more delicious food than someone with a smaller appetite.

While he was enjoying the specially supplied Spirit Fish Meat on the Secluded Doom Island...

The sudden death of True Lord Hua Jian has caused a huge uproar throughout the entire Ze Realm Blessed Land.

Of course, this story begins the day before yesterday.

Although True Lord Hua Jian was alone in his pursuit of the ' Medicine Thief Rat '.

However, his movements are no secret.

In particular, he obtained Chen Fan's hiding place through a disciple of the Gui Yun Sect.

The exact location could not possibly be hidden from the True Lord of the Gui Yun Sect.

In addition, although True Lord Hua Jian was extremely arrogant in his words, constantly referring to rats and beasts, he seemed to completely disregard the Rebellious Cultivator of the Rebellious Immortal Alliance.

However, upon seeing Xiao Chen, he promptly notified the other True Lord nearby.

They were ordered to come to the rescue immediately and work together to capture the Nascent Soul Rebellious Cultivator.

Although the initial purpose of this request for help was to surround and intercept Xiao Chen to prevent him from escaping.

However, objectively speaking, it can also be seen as calling for rescue in a timely manner after encountering danger; in any case, the outcome is roughly the same.

That's where the problem lies!

When the head of the Yang Gao City Gao Family, who was the closest to the city, also known as the Giant Hammer True Lord, arrived nearby, he found that the battle seemed to have ended.

There were no Spiritual Power fluctuations caused by the battle within a radius of several thousand miles.

He had to search the area to find the remaining Magic Trace and the corpses of several Gui Yun Sect disciples and informants.

At that moment, the Giant Hammer True Lord's heart skipped a beat, sensing that something was wrong.

This is terrible! Things are really serious now!

Although he rushed here at full speed, he was still a step too late.

The fate of True Lord Hua Jian is currently unknown; he has most likely already met with a deadly attack.

This undoubtedly indicates that the person who committed the attack was exceptionally strong, and most likely not alone.

After all, not everyone is like Xiao Chen, possessing Mechanical Grappling Claw hook capable of capturing even Nascent Soul have used secret techniques to escape.

In most cases, even if you win a one-on-one fight, it's difficult to completely eliminate the enemy.

Even when surrounded by multiple attackers, True Lord Hua Jian can resist with his spiritual shield, making it difficult to end the battle in such a short time.

In other words, the enemy may not have had time to leave yet.

Given this situation, and not knowing whether the opponent has retreated or set up a new ambush, the Giant Hammer True Lord himself is also in considerable danger.

Moreover, his danger doesn't only come from his enemies.

It also came from Caiyun True Monarch, who was the second to arrive.

From Caiyun True Monarch's perspective, he rushed over immediately after receiving the call for help.

Before they even saw True Lord Hua Jian, they spotted Giant Hammer True Lord wielding his signature hammer at the edge of the battlefield.

Moreover, the other party's aura was fluctuating and surrounded by Spiritual Power, clearly indicating that they had just used Law Technique.

That's where the problem arises.

Did he just happen to arrive from a distance, or had he just finished participating in the ambush and stayed behind to clean up the traces, only to be bumped into by me?

"Fellow Daoist Caiyun, you've come too."

When the Giant Hammer True Lord saw that his own people were arriving, he immediately tried to move closer and form a group to guard against any enemies who might not have retreated yet.

"Stop!"

Caiyun True Monarch raised his hand and summoned his own spiritual shield. "Giant Hammer Fellow Daoist, I don't think now is the time to talk about these things."

"Perhaps you should explain to me how you ended up here?"

"Since you're here, where did Fellow Daoist Hua Jian go?"

ah?

Upon hearing this, the Giant Hammer True Lord was first taken aback, and then realized that he would find it difficult to answer this question.

Given the current situation, he's afraid that nothing he says will be able to gain the other party's trust.

However, even though he knew this, he still tried to defend himself with a few words.

To avoid situations later where people might ask, "If you didn't have any problems, why didn't you explain yourself immediately?"

At the same time, they maintained a safe distance and waited for the other True Lord to arrive.

As expected, Caiyun True Monarch stood at a safe distance, remaining silent no matter how he explained.

Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere didn't last long.

The other True Lord within the Ze Realm Blessed Land, except for the Three Dragon True Lord who came from a side sect, all arrived at the scene one after another.

After all, with the speed of True Lord, 30,000 li is not a very long distance.

Under the guidance of the contemporary Gui Yun True Monarch, everyone took turns examining the traces of battle at the scene.

It has been confirmed that the Li Huo Divine Light Curse, Gold Elemental Defensive Spell, and another relatively unfamiliar Fire Method appeared here.

Furthermore, traces of Star Energy were found on the disciples of the Gui Yun Sect.

Then, using this as the center, they investigated the situation within a radius of 20,000 li.

However, no one was able to detect any further Magic Trace.

This indicates that the battle was confined to one location and was resolved quickly with an overwhelming advantage, which is why a pursuit was not possible.

It was after everyone had finished investigating the basic situation that...

After finishing his personal matters, Three Dragon True Lord arrived late. "Fellow Daoists, you've all arrived. What happened?"

Then he noticed that everyone was looking at him with a strange expression.

The usually polite and courteous Giant Hammer True Lord was the first to speak, asking, "Three Dragon Fellow Daoist, you seem quite busy today?"

"The distance from Three Dragon Mountain to here isn't far."

"If we had set off immediately upon receiving the summons, it shouldn't have taken this long, right?"

For the Giant Hammer True Lord, the best way to clear himself of suspicion is, of course, to divert everyone's attention.

For example, you should point out that others also have problems; you can't just focus on yourself.

Since True Three Dragon True Lord arrived late, he naturally wouldn't let this golden opportunity slip by.

ah?

They were subjected to unwarranted accusations right from the start.

The Three Dragon True Lord, who was completely unaware of the situation, was immediately stunned, not understanding why the Giant Hammer True Lord was speaking in this way.

But he immediately realized that something serious must have happened!

He immediately looked around and saw that everyone else was there, but he couldn't see True Lord Hua Jian anywhere.

After looking at it again in disbelief, the Three Dragon True Lord felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

Oh no, I'm in trouble. I arrived too late this time, which has already aroused suspicion.

He immediately wanted to explain, but the words that came out were. "To be honest, I was dealing with a private matter in my cave abode at noon, so I couldn't come in time."

"But I wonder how Fellow Daoist Hua Jian is doing now?"

"Everyone's here, so why can't I see him?"

Although I already guessed that something must have happened to True Lord Hua Jian.

However, based on the timeline, Three Dragon True Lord estimated that the other party was far from being dead and vanished.

Most of them were already injured, or at worst, only their Nascent Soul remained, and they were temporarily taken care of.

"Oh, really?"

Giant Hammer True Lord pressed on, "What exactly is the situation with Fellow Daoist Hua Jian? Three Dragon Fellow Daoist truly doesn't know?"

"After receiving the message from the Holy City Garrison Envoy, instead of sending reinforcements immediately, they were busy dealing with personal matters."

"Three Dragon Fellow Daoist, you have quite the airs!"

"Are your personal matters more important than a grand plan like striking down the Rebellious Immortal Alliance?"

"Are your personal matters more important than Fellow Daoist Hua Jian's safety?!"

When the Giant Hammer True Lord said the last sentence, he almost roared it out.

He was practically about to shout, "Look everyone, there's someone here who's even more suspicious than me!"

Although it was not very ethical to do so, for him, it was certainly better to sacrifice his fellow Daoists than himself.

"Giant Hammer Fellow Daoist, if you have anything to say, please speak frankly in front of everyone!"

The Three Dragon True Lord naturally sensed something was amiss. "Could it be that you're trying to accuse me of colluding with the Rebellious Immortal Alliance?"

Whether I have a problem or not is none of anyone else's business.

"Once Fellow Daoist Hua Jian speaks up, the answer will naturally become clear."

Upon hearing this, everyone present fell silent.

The Giant Hammer True Lord felt a slight sense of relief; he should be fine for the time being.

The others, however, had brooding gazes, each lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Gui Yun True Monarch spoke first, "Fellow Daoist Hua Jian was ambushed by the Rebellious Cultivator at noon today and has unfortunately perished."

"Three Dragon Fellow Daoist, I will truthfully relay what you just said to the newly appointed Garrison Envoy."

"Furthermore, please follow me back to the blessed land to jointly assess the situation and submit a joint report to the Holy City."

"Until the new Garrison Envoy arrives, unless the Rebellious Cultivator cause trouble, please remain in this blessed land and do not separate."

"I hope that none of you will have anything particularly important to do that forces you to leave during this time."

For Gui Yun True Monarch, this was also a very bad thing.

First, the Garrison Envoy sent by the Holy City died mysteriously within his own territory.

As the dominant Gui Yun Sect bears some responsibility.

Secondly, the battle ended far too quickly; it was absolutely terrifying!

No one can be certain how many Nascent Soul Cultivator the Rebellious Immortal Alliance has brought this time.

No one knows whether their goal is simply to kill a Garrison Envoy as revenge, or if they have bigger plans to follow.

That's right, because just recently, Song Shan Blessed Land destroyed one of the branches of the Rebellious Immortal Alliance.

Therefore, Xiao Chen's act of killing True Lord Hua Jian was naturally presumed to be a retaliatory act launched by the Rebellious Immortal Alliance.

Even the so-called ' Medicine Thief Rat ' was deemed to be merely bait used to lure people in.

In the view of Gui Yun True Monarch and Caiyun True Monarch, there was no hidden Spirit Field at all, nor was there any sale of spirit medicine; it was all a premeditated scheme.

The truth behind it all was that it was a trap set by the cultivators of the Rebellious Immortal Alliance against True Lord Hua Jian.

Of course, this does not mean that all the problems stem from the Rebellious Immortal Alliance; there are still many issues that need to be investigated.

For example, who provided the "bait," and who participated in the ambush?

Therefore, Gui Yun True Monarch's suggestion not to separate was both to facilitate the subsequent investigation and to ensure mutual support to prevent being defeated one by one again.

Everyone returned to the blessed land together.

Then, based on the limited clues available, they engaged in a three-hour discussion and deduction.

The initial focus was naturally on the Three Dragon True Lord, who arrived last, and the Giant Hammer True Lord, who arrived first.

However, an unexpected discovery along the way made the situation even more perplexing.

"After careful comparison and verification, the Magic Trace left on these two stones are exactly the same."

The Cloud-Gazing True Lord Lan Yun specialized in Law Technique, explained, "We can basically confirm from this that the same unfamiliar True Lord with the Fire Spiritual Root participated in both battles."

"Further analysis is needed regarding the Law Technique's range and its destructive power to the surrounding area."

"It can be preliminarily determined that the other party is a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator, or at least a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator with extremely high-quality true essence."

That's right, because Xiao Chen also used the Sky-rushing Palm when he fought that Red-bearded Man last time.

Therefore, extremely similar Magic Trace were left at the scene.

Although the presence of the Li Huo Divine Light Curse prevented the True Lord from noticing this at first.

However, after returning to the blessed land and carefully analyzing and comparing the evidence, they quickly discovered the clues.

"How so?"

Caiyun True Monarch was a little confused. "Senior Brother Su, you can't be mistaken, can you?"

"After investigation, it was confirmed that the person who died in the last battle was a cultivator from the Rebellious Immortal Alliance."

"If that's the case, that unfamiliar Fire Spiritual Root True Lord should be an enemy of the Rebellious Immortal Alliance, so why would he help them deal with Fellow Daoist Hua Jian?"

Logically, this clearly doesn't make sense.

"The items are here; they will be handed over to the Holy City later."

True Lord Lan Yun countered, "Junior Brother Liu, how can you be so sure that the unfamiliar Fire Spiritual Root True Lord is definitely from the Rebellious Immortal Alliance?"

"Both of these battles share a common characteristic."

"That means it ended in an extremely short time, incredibly fast."

"Moreover, the signs of the struggle at the scene were very clean; there was no sense of a lot of people and clutter."

"Judging from the scene of the battle alone, it looked more like a one-on-one fight."

"The only question is, why was the outcome decided so quickly in a one-on-one fight?"

"That's right, ordinary cultivators really can't do that."

"But it's not impossible if they're from... the south."

True Lord Lan Yun originally wanted to say "Holy City," but everyone could understand him when he said it this way.

As everyone knows, items like the Double Jade can greatly enhance a cultivator's strength.

Meanwhile, within the Holy City, some powerful Nascent Soul Cultivator can indeed kill ordinary True Lord within a quarter of an hour.

"What?"

Caiyun True Monarch's eyes widened. "Senior Brother Su, you mean... how is this possible?"

Surely it couldn't be that the Holy City sent someone to kill True Lord Hua Jian, could it?

This sounds like a complete fantasy.

However, the people present were all seasoned veterans and did not immediately rule out this possibility. Instead, they all pondered the matter along this line of thought.

Logically speaking, this doesn't make sense.

Even if it were Special Envoy secretly dispatched by the Holy City, they wouldn't collude with the Rebellious Immortal Alliance.

But what if this wasn't actually retaliation from the Rebellious Immortal Alliance?

Gui Yun True Monarch's eyes flickered. He was initially puzzled as to why the Rebellious Immortal Alliance was so bold this time.

With a Great Purge imminent, they still dare to retaliate at this time, as if they're afraid the Holy City won't have any leads to follow.

But what if someone was actually impersonating the Rebellious Immortal Alliance and was actually targeting True Lord Hua Jian?

Speaking of which, not long ago, True Lord Hua Jian and that Mo Family Disciple who happened to be passing by were quite close.

Moreover, the Mo Family has not had a peaceful life these past two years.

They openly and covertly compete with the Rong Family, one of the Seven Great Clans, in the field of beast taming.

If we push this line of thought a step further, this matter is actually just a starting point.

Is the real mastermind targeting the Mo Family's Seven Crane True Monarch?

As the current Sect Master, Gui Yun True Monarch is always prone to overthinking.

The other four True Lord remained silent; none of them wanted to participate in the discussion related to the Holy City.

But judging from their expressions, they were clearly not at peace.

"Time is running out, let's all take turns sharing our thoughts."

Finally, it was Gui Yun True Monarch who broke the silence first. "The message must be delivered to the Holy City before Zi Hour tonight."

"I'll start."

"In my opinion, this is a retaliatory action planned by the Rebellious Immortal Alliance against Fellow Daoist Hua Jian."

"Due to the enemy's cunning and Fellow Daoist Hua Jian's eagerness for justice, he was ambushed and killed by the villains."

"The specific details, including the Rebellious Cultivator and internal traitors involved in the operation, are still unclear and require urgent investigation."

What are your thoughts on this, fellow cultivators?

Although True Lord Lan Yun's words hinted at a new perspective.

However Gui Yun True Monarch still planned to report the incident as a revenge attack.

He tends to overthink, but that doesn't mean he has to do more just because he thinks about it.

On the contrary, this approach is the safest one; whatever the truth may be, at least it won't affect the Gui Yun Sect.

"Fellow Daoist Guiyun is right, so I will not elaborate further."

The Old Master Jin was the first to speak in agreement.

Next up, naturally, was the Jin Family Patriarch.

The Giant Hammer True Lord didn't say much, but nodded. "I have no objection."

Finally, the Three Dragon True Lord frowned slightly, but surprisingly didn't say anything more, "I have no objection either."

Gui Yun True Monarch nodded with slight satisfaction. "In that case, please sign your names on this notice in turn."